1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to methods for compounding alloys and, more particularly, to a process that divides a large batch of alloy materials into a plurality of accurately-measured smaller batches that each have the proper percentages of alloy materials in order to control and track the percentages of materials throughout the process of compounding the materials. The weight of small titanium batches are tracked by a computer that subsequently controls the addition of master alloy material to compensate for different amounts of titanium in the batches. The small mixed batches of titanium and master alloy are then briquetted and used to form an electrode ingots, slabs, pucks, or any manufactured near net shaped or net shaped products.
2. Background Information
Titanium alloy is currently produced by dividing a large amount of titanium material and master alloy material into a plurality of small batches that are briquetted and formed into an electrode. For instance, a 3000 pound batch of titanium and master alloy components may be processed in ten 300 pound batches. Although the 3000 pound batch included the proper percentages of materials, the percentages of materials in the 300 pound batches may be significantly different than the desired mixture of materials. When the mixture is off, the resulting electrode will include portions that have too much titanium and other portions that include too much master alloy. Forming electrodes in this way is undesirable because of the varying percentages of materials. The art thus desires a method of forming a titanium alloy electrode wherein the mixture of titanium and master alloy is tightly controlled to provide a uniform electrode.
In view of the foregoing, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a method for processing titanium alloys that mixes the alloy components in small batches.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of processing titanium alloy that ensures each small batch of alloy materials has substantially the same composition of materials as all of the other small batches.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of processing titanium alloy that ensures accurate compositions while enabling components to be reused if measured inaccurately.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a method of processing titanium alloy wherein the content of a series of small batches is tracked so that the contents of subsequent batches may compensate for earlier batches to maintain the overall consistency of the resulting electrode.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a method for processing an alloy having at least two components that must be mixed by a given percentage wherein the weight of the first material is measured and the second material is then added based on the weight of the first material and the given percentage.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for processing an alloy whereby the contents of the alloy are divided into small batches and tracked throughout the entire process of mixing the components to forming an electrode.
These and other objectives and advantages ofthe invention are achieved by a method for compounding a base metal with a master alloy comprising the steps of: (a) providing a quantity of the base metal; (b) providing a quantity of the master alloy; (c) creating a first batch of the base metal; (d) identifying the weight of the first batch of base metal; (e) adding master alloy to the first batch of base metal to form a mixture batch; and (f) basing the weight of the master alloy added to the first batch of base metal on the weight of the first batch of base metal.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention are achieved by a method for compounding a base metal with a master alloy comprising the steps of: (a) providing a quantity of the base metal; (b) providing a quantity of the master alloy; (c) creating a first batch of the base metal; (d) identifying the weight of the first batch of base metal; (e) adding master alloy to the first batch of base metal to form a mixture batch; (f) creating a second batch of the base metal; and (g) basing the weight of the base metal in the second batch on the weight of the base metal in the first batch.
Further objectives and advantages of the invention are achieved by an apparatus for compounding a base metal with a master alloy; the apparatus comprising: a scale; a supply of base metal adapted to deliver base metal to the scale; a supply of master alloy adapted to deliver master alloy to the scale; a computer in communication with the scale; a computer adapted to identify the weight of material in the scale and store the weight in its memory; and a mixing conveyor adapted to selectively receive material from the scale.